


Mangle

by Broken_Clover



Category: Guilty Gear
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Body Horror, Gen, Nightmare Fuel, Paranormal, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-21 05:32:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17636876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover
Summary: (Post XX AC ending) Zappa learns 'be careful what you wish for' the hard way





	Mangle

**Author's Note:**

> 'Write more Zappa,' I said, 'he deserves more love,' I said. Two hours later I make this mess. I swear I'm going to make something cheery after this.
> 
> Basically this follows Faust's story mode where he manages to cure him via plastic surgery. As funny as it is story-wise, it seems like there's some serious body horror going on from the fact that Faust was able to completely reconstruct a human face in a way that could be politely described as 'abstract'. Which of course tends to draw me in.
> 
> Yes, I do regret this.

The first thing he acknowledged was the stinging pain. It seemed like Zappa was starting to get used to that, lately. It was rare that he’d wake up from a blackout without something injured or broken. He tended to know what was hurting sooner than he knew where he was or what had happened.

Pulling together thoughts was always difficult. Somehow, it was even harder to think than it usually was. Pulses of pain were sparking across his face and through his brain, like someone had tossed him up against a wall.

Then again, considering the last few weeks, that certainly was a possibility.

“A-ah…” The ground felt relatively soft. Another moment of analysis confirmed that it was grassy. He could tell he was outside, but the location of where was a mystery. As far as he knew, he could have wound up halfway across Europe.

He blinked groggily, trying to get a better look at the scenery. It didn’t accomplish much. The pain blazed up at the orange sunlight invading his eyes, and the world seemed bizarrely skewed. It definitely felt something like a concussion, but then again, he didn’t know much about this sort of thing.

“Oh, you woke up. Good news! You’ve been cured.”

He recognized that voice. Dr. Faust? When had he…

Ohhh, that was right! Muddled as his thoughts were, Zappa could vaguely recall the time right before the last blackout. The doctor had finally managed to catch up to him. He hadn’t been able to get much of a conversation in before everything went dark again, but from the sound of things, for once, good luck had managed to find him. At least he’d finally found the person he was looking for.

Wait a moment. Did he say ‘cured?’ “R-really?”

“Yes. You’re not haunted anymore.”

Haunted?! Had there actually been ghosts crawling all over him? What a terrifying prospect. Despite that, though, Zappa was too elated to be afraid. It was over now. Even if everything still hurt.

“Thank god…” Another little jolt of soreness made him whimper and reach up to rub at it. Had he been punched? It was hard to pinpoint an exact spot where it hurt. “But...what’s this unpleasant sensation in my face…?”

He finally managed to spot Dr. Faust, standing over him calmly. He knew the man was tall, but he seemed to be standing almost diagonally. Just looking at it made the headache worse. It felt like he was sitting upright, so why was the world all skewed?

The doctor shook his head. “That’s normal! I changed your face.”

It took a good moment for him to process that. ‘Changed his face?’ “What!? W-why?”

“My research revealed that it was your face that attracted the evil spirit.” Faust replied calmly, as though dealing with ghosts was a completely average thing for him. “So, by changing your face, I was able to easily get rid of her!”

Anxious hands crawled along the skin of his face. Zappa couldn’t bring himself to care about the pain anymore. He couldn’t see anything from his point of view, forcing him to guess what exactly had been changed, and how.

He tried and failed to calm his steadily speeding heart. From instinct alone, his thoughts were screaming _‘this is wrong.’_ It couldn’t be his face. It couldn’t even be a _human_ face. All the edges felt too sharp. The nose was jutting out sideways. His eyes were at completely different spots, turned and tilted in different directions. He couldn’t focus on the environment because each eye saw completely different things. Somehow, there were no scars or stitches, just skin, twisted into something abstract and unnatural and nothing more than _monstrous._

If he didn’t feel like fainting, Zappa would have screamed. He could only bring himself to stutter. “B-but...uh...to be honest with you, this face is…”

“Yes, it’s rather ugly.”

 _‘Ugly?!’_ He looked like some demented artist’s experiment! “N-no! Please, fix my face!”

Faust seemed entirely unconcerned, and scoffed at his panic. “I can’t do that! It’d just lure that evil spirit right back.”

He didn’t care about spirits anymore. He could handle that. Nobody was going to be able to look at him without running and screaming. What was his mother going to say when she saw this?! Would he even be able to live around other people?!

“D-doctor-!”

To his horror, the man turned away with an offhand wave. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta get going!”

No, no no! This couldn’t be happening! Faust couldn’t just _leave!_

“Doctor Faust-!”

Zappa tried to get on his feet and chase after him. As soon as he attempted to move and stand, the world spiraled. His eyes weren’t seeing what he needed them to see. The grass easily tripped him up, and he hit the ground again.

Another green door materialized in the middle of nothing. Faust didn’t even offer a second glance before he stepped inside. He vanished instantly, with the door fading away not a moment later.

“I want my face back!”

He heard the words echo out through the words, heard by no one but himself.

“Y-you can’t…” Zappa cried into the empty sunset. “You _can’t…”_

He had no idea what to do with himself. He didn’t even know where he was. All he could think to do was curl up on the ground and sob, feeling the jagged, mutilated edges of his face again and again in disbelief.

“This isn’t what I wanted…!”

He’d heard stories about Faust. That samurai lady had called him a demon. Zappa knew that he was as mad as he was brilliant. Why hadn’t he listened? Why had he hoped? He should have stayed home, with mother, with the farm. Why had he decided to leave? He could have been content to stay home and work as he always had, living quietly and growing vegetables. It was simple living, no ghosts or monsters to worry about. Why had he given all that up?

What did it matter, he asked himself. He’d made his choice, and now he had to live with the consequences.

What options did he have now? He could only imagine the sorts of things that would happen if he tried going back to civilization. His face wasn’t anything remotely resembling a human. At best, he’d be outcast, with everyone and everything looking at him with terror and fleeing. He couldn’t go back home. He didn’t even know how he’d try.

Something furry brushed against his side. He let out a terrified shriek, scrabbling back on the grass. It wasn’t a wolf, as he’s expected, or a deer, or any other forest creature. Instead, it was an oddly familiar-looking dog, with jet-black fur and piercing red eyes.

“You…”

As menacing as it appeared, the animal didn’t seem particularly threatening. Its tail was swishing like Lila’s did right before dinnertime, and its ears were perked- though in looking the dog over, he realized that he could make out the thing’s skeleton through translucent skin.

“You’re not a real dog, are you?” Zappa realized in horror. “So that means...I’m still haunted?”

So it had all been for nothing, then. Faust had turned him into a monster, and there still were things following him.

The dog offered a sympathetic whimper, and licked where he assumed his cheek was supposed to be. Zappa didn’t tend to like dogs, they always seemed intimidating and scary, but this one was the closest thing to a comfort that he had. In spite of his awkward, divided vision, he attempted to pet its head.

“Uh...good boy?”

Something else tapped his shoulder. He reacted far calmer the second time, only flinching a little when he saw the hollow-eyed mask staring back at him. It seemed just as friendly, burrowing up against his shoulder and emitting a low drone, quickly joined by a duo of identical figures.

He wasn’t sure why they were being so kind. From experience, they seemed intent to keep getting him in trouble and getting him injured. It almost seemed like a group hug, strange as it seemed.

The dog licked off his tears, while the triplets nuzzled against him. None of them complained when he moved to curl up on the grass. With a little whine, the dog pawed at his chest until he set his head against it. It made for an oddly soft pillow, for a ghost.

The triplets curled around his body, humming softly. He wasn’t sure if ghosts needed to sleep at all, but nonetheless, they seemed content to keep him company.

“Good night, everyone.”

One eye tilted towards the stars, while the other looked off towards the woods. Zappa supposed it was good to get a better look at the forest around him. After all, it seemed he was going to be living in it for a long time.


End file.
